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itchycoo
Eric Portapotty
Yes, next year....
Not sure if we'll ever be good enough for the CL group stages, considering our financial issues.
Maybe of I can get though a season with Mahmoud Ibrahim not angling for a move or getting pissy over fines, then we will see.
-----------------------
Dour match, Abdellaoui couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo, and it took Mabrouk's magic to get us through.
Too bad he's now out for the season with a damaged knee cap.
Damanhour next, so at least it's another match to look forward to.
You know who won't be able to play in the next round? Zamalek, who were put away by relegated Wadi Degla - ahahahaa ultimate chokers.
Parachuting to Africa's 2nd-tier club tournament, we were drawn against one of the other dropouts.
I suppose a third Confederation Cup title can count as a Champions League title right?
KEZ_7
Eric Portapotty
I want to win the African CL first, but I don't really want to do it with another Egyptian side (you know, having put so much in here).
Of my loaded leagues Cameroon and Ghana are wastelands in terms of current quality (but they do have potential) and in Congo only TP Mazembe is worth the bother.
Probably a top club from the other leagues (Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa) if I just want this over and done with - particularly the latter, having seen the strength of Sundowns.
Then again I'll probably be too emotionally attached and stay after all
---------------------------
Late win, choked near the end of normal time before we got a quickfire double to pull away.
Lost to them in least year's semi, while also in our 2nd fixture this season - we have some scores to settle.
In both matches I came to the conclusion that Hamada Ahmed was a complete turd at defending - good fucking riddance he's leaving.
Easy enough, but my squad's fitness is falling apart, and we still have Hamada fucking Ahmed, so all bets are off.
Bitesize newsflash:
He can leave, screw him.
Eric Portapotty
3 CONSECUTIVE 4-2 WINS - 4-2 WIN IN THE FINAL CONFIRMED
Maybe not.
Johno
Eric Portapotty
Not really, actually:
Our overall record against them has never been too good;
That's 3 players out, with Bamba available for his last game in a Smouha shirt;
And who can forget the previous league fixture, where we threatened to lose the title and my sanity?
----------------------------
With those things in mind we went into the final with Bamba as a makeshift forward in his farewell game, with the retiring Marital and Mohamed Mahrous - who will have some convincing to do (having failed miserably in training to play leftback) with only a month to go on his contract - flanking him; not the most inspired attacking trio.
Or so I thought:
Maddest first half all season (besting the Tunis game) - with Mohamed Mahrous scoring his 4 goals with the same passing combination - Bamba handing it to him on a plate.
As a result Bamba got 4 assists (and a 9.4 rating), while Mahrous delivered a substantial defence of himself with a setpiece assist to cap his goalscoring showcase.
Marital got an assist too, so there.
Biggest underachievers should have been Zamalek if only for personal shits and giggles.
MONEY
Of course, half of it went to the players, so we're still in a financial shithole.
Johno
itchycoo
Eric Portapotty
With his $20k wages, occasional lapses of concentration and the fact that he will eventually ask for a transfer meant that he'll have to leave anyway.
Also had to stamp my authority, can't have people going on strike just because they've been fined a couple weeks' wages.
This'll be the guy who will come into the side, having done well enough on loan at Police Union least season:
He's nowhere near as good (yet), but is paid over 1,000 times less than Bamba, so there's that.
Oh if only they used that as their headline...
----------------------------------------
Pre-season preview:
Chiariviglio(?) didn't do shit, really.
It's not so much they we was most deserving, more of everyone else either missing significant parts of last season injured or on strike.
Abdel Kader's spell on the sidelines coincided with our mini-crisis, so maybe that proved his importance or something.
First profitable season in years, and this is my reward.
It's progress, but almost certainly not enough.
Adel and Mahrous were both signed on to new deals, Adel because he's royalty in these parts, Mahrous because he's managed to convince in that last match.
Mahrous' deal was being negotiated while the currency bug (mentioned in a previous post) struck again, which means that Mahrous, instead of doubling his money, will now have it quadrupled - $12k p/w.
Which is fucking brilliant, because it means that I simply have to sell Mahmoud Ibrahim just to balance the books.
Is 3rd to 1st that unbelievable, especially since I've done it before the previous season?
Slightly higher in general, but I'd be daft to use it all considering our rather awkward financial situation.
Preseason schedule, and we finish it off with the Super Cup game against Zamalek(again).
But you don't see that, because this is Football Manager and there's a Super Cup draw to be made.
George14brfc
Cymro
Eric Portapotty
Cheers, appreciate it.
Nah... Purse-tightening from now on, since we currently have a sufficient supply line.
---------------------------------
Preseason over:
Good preseason, unbeaten but we got a really rude awakening in our final clash.
On to the (inferior) continental assault:
Over in 15 minutes, ruthless innit.
They ruined our clean sheet, so obviously we had to tear them a new one at their place as punishment.
Slightly worried, success can only be sustained for so long.
Oh, and it seems that we're the only Egyptian team left in continental competition this season - obviously we went out of the CL 2nd round, while Zamalek went out the round before us, and El Gouna and Haras El Hodoud proved that their successful seasons were little more than flukes by crashing out of the Confederation Cup early.
Now to a trophy which I haven't won:
Told you.
Also, notice how it's still the Mubarak International Stadium - wonder if they've changed it yet.
Anyway, onto the real business:
Set pieces got us goals in quick succession, with the rest of the match kept simple enough.
So we how hold all the major titles in Egyptian football, as well as the Confed Cup - we'll have to wait another couple of months to start trying to add to our collection, you know what I mean.
Onto transfers now, and there are quite a few - outs first:
With a year left in his contract he was never going to sign to any realistic terms offered, so off he goes, the moody cunt.
With him and Bamba out of the club we've shaved around $30k p/w in wages, and around $3.5 million in transfer fees - decent business IMO.
Ins now:
First off, a replacement (of sorts) for Ibrahim, he's vastly inferior but he's also much cheaper.
Also, of you see his attributes you can see his main strength: a setpiece machine.
He's back! And with minimal changes from his last time here, Rahmani is still the utility man of the squad, and might feature more regularly given Hamada Ahmed's departure (good riddance) and a couple of free foreign slots in the league squad.
A coup no doubt, got him for 2 seasons, which not only means securing the services for probably the hottest Egyptian talent now but also that he won't be acquired by other Egyptian sides (particularly the nouveau riche sides like Damanhour).
I'm also paying him the same amount of money, and under half, of Abdel Kader and Mabrouk respectively, both who are out of contract at the end of the season - food for thought there.
Miscellany:
I seem to have missed the memo on this one, our Hibs link was also cut.
They've only got a first option with us, which was never used by HIbs so I wouldn't be too worried by its effect.
A winning mentality means I won't have to pay these guys as much, they should know what they need to do out there.
A fair assessment, going to be tight season this, but Al Ahly could well have further problems this season, having sold their starting GK and thus far failed to replace him.
They even offered $1.3 million for Abdel Fatah (our starter), needless to say they were rebuffed instantly.
Johno
itchycoo
Eric Portapotty
Title looks like a tougher proposition, now that I'm without Ibrahim and I've placed my trust in an all-Egyptian central defensive partnership in years.
Defence does look a wee bit porous as a result, which might well cost us.
Continental qualification looks manageable though, quite a gap in quality between the top 4 and the others.
.... And I've lost my league opener (against Zamalek too) - 4 shots, none on target, some appalling goal kicking on display; fingers crossed not a sign of things to come.
I know right? I'm looking to him to lead our title charge, to add that bit of quality that Ibrahim (admittedly) took with him.
Still surprised that Roma were willing to let him join us, I suppose the experience of regular continental football would have been a factor.
So it's excellent news that he's injured himself in said match, and will be out for a couple of weeks, brilliant start.
Eric Portapotty
George14brfc
itchycoo
Dan
You had a good stint at Bamboutos until you got yourself sacked!
The small stint at Singapore under 23s was worthwhile
Brilliant to see you win the league title with Smouha early as 2022 after a fantastic couple of years turning the club around! Surprised to see you turn down the Lazio offer and not to get the Inter one!
Great Confed cup win in 2026 and again in 2028. Well done on winning the premier league in 2026 as well as 2029! and back to the champions League!
Walked the Egyptian cup final in 2029 superb and I am now up to date with this, had a supberly long stint at Smouha! and some great finances to work with! Keep this coming its excellent!
Cymro
Johno
danwhite89
Eric Portapotty
--------------------------------
New Year's Day 2030, a mid-season update:
We didn't start very well, Zamalek getting instant revenge for the Super Cup loss.
What followed was an unbeaten streak where we (initially) showed our attacking prowess.
However the scoring rate inevtably proved unsustainable, and we had to scrape a couple of narrow wins.
The El Gouna match was particularly frustrating, as we repeatedly gave the ball away and invited pressure in our own half.
Having gone 2 goals down without offering any effective goalscoring threat Kontoh Mensah got a double out of nowhere to salvage a draw.
The unbeaten run also proved to be rather short-lived, as a 2nd-string side was sent out against Mas El Makasa in anticipation of continental commitments.
Again offering very little in attack, we returned with a (well-deserved) loss.
Worse was to come - against Al Moqaoloun we were as bad as the scoreline suggested, put it that way.
(And you know how I handle the aftermath of such reverses - not well)
At least we managed to steady the ship before the end of the calendar year, and prevent a full-blown crisis.
3 points off the lead, but poor head-to-head records against Zamalek and Al Moqaoloun could prove to be extremely troublesome come the end of the season.
However, at least we're not Al Ahly, whose inability to replace their recently departed starting goalkeeper - instead 'relying' on an 17-year-old sicknote - had rather hilarious (to me anyway) consequences.
They switch managers with Koroum, then proceeded to lose to Al-Nassr.
Aforementioned continental commitments (Confederation Cup group stages of course):
Tore the group up (again), and the last match was a dead rubber (so the backups were tasked to handle Hearts of Oak), but it's still disappointing to get a 6 of 6 record.
Basically, if we go through to the final I'll meet one of 2 sides:
1) A side with a point to prove having been thumped in the group stage of this year's competition;
)2 A side with an even bigger point to prove having been thumped in the group stage AND the final of last year's edition.
Rock and hard place, really - but we still have a semi-final to get through first:
Game over surely? Maybe not, they've got a goal here so they might yet conjure a comeback, while we're missing a couple of important men.
OK, so they didn't.
As if an undoubtedly talented side fuelled by a desire for revenge needed any more prodding by the media.
Lost our swagger from the semis, struggled to get going, and when we eventually did we were pegged back - Soliman was absolutely awful for some reason.
Still, an away goal, so we're still in the driving seat:
Pathetic performance, and probably the worst time to come up with one.
We negated our advantage virtually straight from the off, then made our already uphill task even more so before the hour mark - all while proving to be completely blunt in front of goal.
Sudden Route One football got us on level terms in a minute, but we then reverted to type, which was great because we were still trailing on away goals.
Awful.
At least there's a consolation - Hafez managed the most assists despite having been at the club for around half a year.
Managerial stuff:
Very, very alluring - another club with excellent youth facilities, and a jump to the Spanish top flight.
For the 4th(?) consecutive time of such talks all I did was negotiate lowered transfer funds and raised wage budgets - I am absolutely useless in negotiations.
Time for me to cut out the faffing about, I'm winning the African Champions League here, after that happens we'll see.
(REJECT REJECT REJECT)
It also turns out that I've been headhunted by such clubs not without reason:
World Class for managing exclusively in Africa, and without winning a CL title - right....
Miscellany:
He's been in and out of the 1st XI due to injury and Kontoh Mensah's emergence, but he's probably not complaining about the inclusion.
If I'm Honest? No I don't - if you've read past posts then you'll find that I've never really trusted him.
He's improved having been thrust into the role of a regular defender, but he just seems so close to imploding into a mess of nerves, a little pressure and he'll be in the corner crying.
Then again national team recognition might just toughen him up.
Another one who won't make it if I made the decisions - I mean just look at him, I'll admit to not training him properly, but he's really little more than a speed demon, and thats not sufficient for the international stage on my book.
You know who should make it? PLaymaker and least season PoTY, Ahmed Hassan Abdel Kader.
Yes he's rather unprofessional, yes he absolutely detests the concept of tutoring, but with proper man-management he can become a skilful operator in the centre.
Ironically, I'll be looking to sell him in this transfer window, in light of his expiring deal and Soliman's presence limiting his game time.
KEZ_7
Eric Portapotty
It's true man, I fear I may wall have miscalculated our odds.
Dan
cellist
Also the data update you're using gives the Egyptian league a different format to mine - I have two groups of 9 teams with the top two from each progressing to a semi-final knock out phase. Although this website suggests something different again...http://www.egyptianfootball.net/. Is it possible to edit league rules within a save game? (also note that Smouha seem to have had some success irl this year too!)
Eric Portapotty
Very big offers, just that they'll come backa when I do finish my job here.
You're right, I found out about the new format a couple of weeks ago, couldn't change anything so I stuck with it.
Logos... http://sortitoutsi.net/forums/topic/9299/default-logos-2014-megapack
Vanilla, no fiddling around, just the way I like it.
Eric Portapotty
But first off:
Couple of things:
1) A broken pelvis sounds painful;
2) I know what I said about him in my last update but he remains (technically) our best centreback; and
3) No one will buy him now - I had an offer for him of 1.8 million, was prepared to sell but I upped the fee to 2.2 million with a couple of clauses, and the other party backed out.
Hindsight doesn't feel good.
Now to the league:
Horrible start, defence went completely missing (as usual).
Abdellaoui got a goal back, after which we spent over a half looking for an equaliser, then failing to find a winner.
Incredibly nervous in the 1st half, two absolute peaches from Hafez dragging our bag of nerves of a team into the interval with a lead.
Somehow we got 2 goals in 3 minutes, which gave the game a rather misleading scoreline.
Zamalek subsequently fucking up against Damanhour means they're now falling behind in the title race, but it's not good news for us either as we now have to contend with a new leader - Al Moqaoloun.
Transfer news:
A surprise freebie from Zamfara United, recently relegated from the Nigerian top flight.
Being captain, he did what every loyal leader of a team would do and jumped ship, submitting a transfer request.
He won't be playing in the league, he'll be involved in the CL (early rounds anyway) and the youth levels.
I see him as more of a David Dadzie type of transfer - training him up well enough to sell for a pretty penny, maybe with a couple of loans at better-established clubs.
Part of a bunch of distinctly average scrappers who would get a game in an injury crisis.
Now a short story:
You know him, a promising centreback from our academy, just so happened that he was good enough for European youth setups as well.
Forced my hand, So I offered him a professional deal:
Which he accepted, apparently because he loves the club more than Euros.
However, immediately after signing the new deal:
Blew all other interested parties out of the water (Sevilla only bid a million less, Porto further less), and for a 17 year old too!
Bit their hand off, could've been hit and miss so that money was too good to refuse.
he gets to stay a couple months as well, which means I don't have eto scamper around looking for a replacement just yet.
Grivariligio(???) the Uruguayan wingback, has returned home, so this is my new backup rightback.
he might not exactly be top class, but what he does offer is cover for the right flank as well, because I'm also looking to loan Aymen Farouk (mentioned in the previous post as well) out to save some cash:
Of course I'll miss his pace and occasional incision, but at the rate we're bleeding cash (half a mil a month) making do will be my preferred order of the day.
Cup draw news:
As defending champions too, no doubt we'll crash and burn.
Ethiopians.